firefighters responding to a house fire walk into a deadly ambush. complete bay area news coverage starts right now. this is bay area news at 7:00. it is monday, the 24th of december. i'm ken prich et in for gasia. this is bay area news at 7:00. it is the night before christmas and most retail stores are closing at this house as procrastinating shoppers rush about to make last-minute purchases. take a look at this live picture at interstate 80 in berkeley well. eve been monitoring the traffic all afternoon and it's been getting heier as the evening wears on. we found one shopper nearby who said weight until the last minute is serving him well. >> i'm a--minute christmas shopper anyway so that's just how i am, and there's also a lot of good deals that are available at the last minute.

>> our helicopter flew over southland mall in hayward about noon today and surprisingly there were quite a few parking spots available. other stores report brisk business. we get more from christian in san francisco. >> lot of shoppers came in and out of these doors today. the west vil shopping center says retailers were offering deep discounts to bring in the customers and lots of people were willing to spend while some are de pending on sant klaus for those last-minute gifts, lot of shoppers took matters into their own hands, grabbing back after bag after goodies to bring home on christmas eve. some say it doesn't feel like christmas without the adrenaline rush of shopping as the clock counts down. >> i like to consider myself a fourth-quarter player. i step up, you know, down the stretch, and thoo's what i'm all about, performing when it's crunch time. >> managers at the west field shopping center say i shally activity builds week by week following thanksgiving but that

wubt the case this year. >> we had a really strong black friday. really the first two weeks of december were really strong and then it kind of lulled. it's almost like people forgot. >> that all changed as the weeks before christmas turned into days until christmas. >> literally they came back out in force this weekend so friday through today, it's just been a spike in traffic. >> retailers began offering deep discounts to bring in the customers and shoppers say it's working. some even say they finished their shopping but came back to get that perfect gift. >> the gifts that i have i second guess so, now, i'm, like, exchanging stuff and getting things that my sister wants. >> the malls are also expecting a lot of business the day after christmas. that's when people come in to make returns and exchanges and when people start redeeming all those gift cards. ktvu channel 2 news. on wall streeshths stocks slipped lower nod an abbreviated traying sechlths the dow industrial lost 51 points. dmakz fell 8. analysts say investors remain wearly about a potential deal

between the president and congress to avoid the fiscal cliff. at the vatican, pope benedict the 16th presided over christmas eve mass. he urged people to make room for god in their busy lives. the catholic pope also prayed for peace in israel, palestine and syria. this year midnight mass was moved up two hours to 10:00 p.m. to accommodate the ageing church leader. clear skies kept travelers on track at sfo today after long de lay this is past weekend. as atly reports, this day before christmas is a busy one. >> the security line snaked throughout terminal 2 in san francisco international airport this morning. travelers shuffled through to chasm flights to arrive in time for christmas morning. >> everybody twoonts go home and see family. >> friday, december 21st, was technically the businessest day of holiday travel season for sfo

with 130,000 people passing through, but christmas eve isn't too far behind with 120,000 airline passengers expected to. for some holiday traveler, the last-minute journey was a matter of price. >> i picked the 24th because it was, like, $250 less than what was on saturday or sunday and what was on tuesday so it was obviously a good choice to do it. >> for other travelers with busy schedules, christmas eve was their only choice. >> i had to book this today because of work, but -- but we're happy to be going. >> yeah. it's busy. we were -- we were surprised. yeah. a lot of big line sgls and for travelers ready to start their vacations, they came prepared with a strategy to beat the crowd. >> get here early, don't be stressed oushths take our time and enjoy. >> another reason to give yourself some extra time is it might take a little while to find parking at san francisco international airport. the duty manager says the main long-term parking garage is full, but there is still parking available in the airport's two domestic garages and the one at

the international terminal. at sfo, ktvu channel 2 news. now, to highway 84 where a head-on collision snarled traffic just after 4:00 this afternoon. the california highway patrol says multiple vehicles were involved in the accident. it happened on 84 near interstate 680. news chopper 2 video shows the long backup. there are reports of injuries but how many remains unclear. the highway reopened shortly after 5:00. an avalanche killed a snow border at donner ski ranch today. search teams recovered the body of a 50-year-old man but they have not released a name. the resort's operations director says the avenue lafrmg occurred in bounds and was set off at about 9:30 this morning. nearly five hours later the man was found buryed in more than two feet of snow. the victim's friends say they reported him missing but it took ski patrol several hours to conduct a full search. and we had a lot of rain scombred there's more rain coming. take a look at the rain fall over the last three weather

systems. santa rose sa coming up on over 4 inches of rain. san francisco up to almost 2 inches and san jose coming up on an inch and a half. that's over the last three day sos what does that do for percents of average? check it out 172% of average in santa rosa. we're looking at 143% of average in san jose so it is wet out there, and it has been wet out there. i've got another system i'm tracking right here. this system is going to roll in as we get into tomorrow afternoon and increase those totals. last year at this time we were about 30% of average in most cities so when i come back i'm going to have the complete forecast with the latest computer model and get you through your day tomorrow. those weekend rainstorms have left the ground saturated. problems per sisd twod some small mud slides and trees toppling from the soggy ground. in the oakland hills debris crumbled onto a roadway early this morning. you're looking at pine hurs road. the trees and mud cover and had

blocked one lane of the road. crews in marin county rushed to turn off water lines after 13-inch lane burst this morning in mill valley. it happened on marin vav between bell lane and flamingo road. the road buckled and crews fear add sink hole might be created from the water washing underneath the pavement. crews say this break is likely due to old pipes. and in fremont, car owners dealt with the damage caused by a large tree that fell during last night's rain. the tree fell around 7:00 at piralta boulevard. no one was injured but one of the cars is totalled and the other is seriously damaged. emergency repairs are underway at a damaged levy in east palo alto tonight, wurngs after flooding forced dozens of people from their homes last night. as john fowler reports, residents say the repairs are long overdue. >> state sandbag crews arrived about 6:30 tonight in east palo

alto. they planned to work on the san francisco creek levy during the night. the creek much calmer now than we show youd last night. engineers worked fast to get this fix going on christmas eve. not fast enough for residents who have lived through repeated flooding here. >> i'm a little worried because it's supposed to, i think, rain again tomorrow. >> homeowners spent today clearing sxhud debris from last night's if you had. >> it frees here to there, it was like a big lake, a lot of trees going down, a lot of garbage. >> along several blocks, the creek topped the levy. seven homes damaged, several hun people evacfwratd this low-lying neighborhood. >> the levy tops were equal about the gutter line or the rooftops from the homes so having a levy failure here would be catastrophic. >> as you see here that failure began late last night. our cameras caught water you believing through the earth. today local and state officials took an emergency survey. they said last night's creek flow was the third highest since

the levy was built 82 years ago. >> it's not certified, not good shape scombroint powers authority has approved a project to start next year that would actually rebuild the whole levy system. >> sandbagging is just the first step. they also plan somd structures to minimize erosion on the levy. one home does remain red tagged and everyone here is hoping that the next storms will be weaker than the last. reporting from east palo alto health and science senator john fowler, ktvu channel 2 news. a christmas gift for convicted criminals tonight. governor jerry brown announced he's granting 79 pardons. the people granted pardons, completed their sentences, have been releaseed from custody for more than a decade and have not committed any further crimes. a governor's pardon restores some rights to a felon like serving on a jury and in some case it is right to own firearms. the pardon does not seal or erase a person's record. if you'd like to see the complete list of pardons, we posted it to ktvu.com under today's hot topics on the home

page. government and consumer groups have turned down a settlement offer from pg & e in the wake of the deadly san bruno explosion. the san francisco chronicle reports pg & e aufrd $550 million to pay for skate regulatory charges but the offer was rejected because the utility will not admit to safety breaches. such an admission would open the door to criminal charges. eight people die and had 38 homes were destroyed in the september, 2010, explosion. and we have a success story to tell you about in the city of richmond where the number of homicides has been cut in half. with 2012 almost complete, richmond has recorded 18 homicides. that's down from 45 people killed three years ago, and richmond averaged about 36 homicides a year over the past decade. unlike many cities, richmond has actually increased police staffing in the past few years. some people also credit community efforts after richmond declared a state of emergency

after a deadly summer in 2005. up next first responders under attack. a group of firefighters responding to a blaze in up state new york are ambushed, shot and killed. also tonight a mission worthy of sant klaus himself. the sleigh being used to deliver toys tonight in the south bay. back here in just ten minutes i've got rain to talk about. the fog in the morning and then showers develop. i'll let you know when they start, when they end and how much we could see hey, look! a shooting star!

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last night. water slowed so fast rescue divers could not risk swimg to the 58-year-old driver. after being pulled from the truck, the man was treated for hypothermia. it is a heartbreaking christmas eve for the families of four firefighters in up state new york. the first responders were ambushed today when they responded to a house fire. as elizabeth corrigan reports, two of the volunteer firefighters were killed, two others wounded. >> multiple firemen down. i am shot. >> four volunteer firefighters responded to a call in up state new york monday morning. they found flames and gunfire. they were ambushed by a loan shooter. >> it does appear that it was a trap that was set for a responding shths you know, first responder sgls one of the wounds escaped on his own. a second firefighter was found at the scene conscious and still able to speak.

two others, fireman mike and thomas were pronounced dead. >> it's a very difficult situation. these people get up in the middle of the night to go put out fires. >> the shoots prevented firefighters from knocking down the flames. police and swat teams evacwait nearby homes. within hours the fire de stroid at least seven homes. de spite the tremendous toll, investigators say the community is no longer in danger. the gunman killed himself on the scene. he had a lengthy criminal record. >> in 1980, he was arrested by the webster police and charged with killing his grandmother. he was convicted in 1981. he served time in new york state prison system until 1998. >> word of the violence spread quickly through the town just east of ro chester. >> i've lived here my entire life. you never imagine anything, something like that happening so close to home. >> the timing of the tragedy is not lost on anyone. >> firemen going into help a situation out and this caused

the type of outcome where, now, they're going to have the holidays where their family is not going to have them there. it's just devastating. we talked to firefighters in san francisco today. they say all firefighters share a common bond and the incident in up state new york touches them deeply. >> we share really traumatic experiences with each other and anybody who's been in this line of work understands that and so, you know, we just from that connection. >> san francisco firefighters send their thoughts and prayers to those in new york and while she says the incident does make firefighters think of their own mortality, it will not keep them from doing what they have to do in the future. nurses are walking a picket line at nine bay area hospitals. it is their eighth strike since contract negotiations failed last july. >> we are gonna strike until they come back to the table to

negotiate our contract. >> the california nurse's association organized the one-day picket against sirt health and hca healthcare. nurses say management wants to reduce healthcare benefits, sick pay and staffing levels. the hospitals have hired contract nurses to fill in. a man hit by a flurry of gunfire in oakland has serious injuries following a shootout between people in two vehicles. an assault rifle was left at the scene along with dozens of shell casings. it happened about 11:00 a.m. near mar kus foster school on west street. the school was not in session today. police say the man was dropped off at a hospital with multiple gunshot wounds. no arrests have been made. veteran actor jack clugman has died. krugman costarred in the popular tv comedy the odd couple along with tony randell. he was the slob to randell's

neat nick. later clogman played a coroner detective. he continued to act on broadway into his 80s. clugman's family announced his death in los angeles today. actor jack clugman was 90 years old. it appears former president george h. w. bush will spend christmas in hospital. the 88-year-old has been hospitalized in houston since last month. he is reportedly being treated for bronchitis. bush has been receiving physical therapy to help gain strength and they are being optimistic he will make a full recovery. san jose police officers will have a little something extra in their patrol cars this evens. as robert honda reports from san jose, the officers will carry gifts for children in particularly stressful situations. >> the supply area for the san jose police department tonight looked more appropriate for santa's sleigh than patrol cars. these toys were donated by dollar tree stores for police officers to distribute to families on this christmas eve night, but these gifts won't be

handed out randomly in neighborhoods but given specifically to children who really need the holiday cheer. >> we're seeing people at their worst a lot of times. we're going out to these home, a lot of domestic violence disturbances around the holidays and a lot of times we see frightened children caught in the middle. >> many of them have participated in similar gift give aways on christmas eve before, but tonight the dollar tree donations will make it possible for officers to hand out more than just individual toys but whole bags. >> a bag full of toys, the kids that we'll see, they'll have two or three brothers or sister, share them, have some fun with their family. >> extremely rewarding, you know, just to see the look on these kids' face when you, you know, go and hand them a bag full of gifts. >> and for a police department thad a rough 2012, officers acknowledge this toy give away is a good way to end a bad year. >> people tend to focus on the negative. they look at the crime stats,

our staffing levels within the police department. what this is about is really -- has nothing to do with any of that. >> officer says they plan to hand out the bags in various ways throughout the night and will make sure remaining toys get to underprivileged children in time for christmas. in san jose, robert honda, ktvu channel 2 news. in san francisco memorial church served an estimated 3,000 people a traditional prime rib meal for lunch today. the annual event included live music, mren toif goodwill and lots of christmas cheer. house of prime rib restaurants donated 2200 pounds of meet, 200 pounds more than last year. guests seemed quite pleased with the meal. >> the meal was wonderful. we had prime rib and ice cream and cake. >> clyde's dining room reopens tomorrow morning at 7:00 with breakfast for 2,000 people and tomorrow night about 5,000 people are expected to share a meal of ham and turkey with all of the trimmings. coming up a christmas eve tradition. the particular food item thad crowds of people lining up today

in the south bay. plus chief meteorologist bill martin has his complete five-day forecast for christmas and beyond look at you guys with your fancy-schmancy u-verse high speed internet. you know, in my day you couldn't just start streaming six ways to sunday. you'd get knocked off. and sometimes, it took a minute to download a song.

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christmas in sierra. here's a look at the snow from caltran camera on interstate 80 in truck key taken this afternoon. there is a winter weather advisory for the sierra set for tomorrow evening. the best times to travel will be this evening and tomorrow morning because that's -- we have a gap there early christmas day. bill martin is here to tell us what's in store. it's funny seeing that shot with you standing in it. >> i know. it's nice from here. >> it is going to snow up there quite a bit as we get into tomorrow. another west e weather system moves in. snow starts to go in the mown tans and we get rain here. you can see it's still offshore aways but it's making its way this way, and it'll be here by tomorrow afternoon. the radar right now just shows some stuff up around humble county. tomorrow night at this time i'll be showing you showers that will probably be sliding through the south bay and out of the area so this deal is going to get in here afternoon and kind of linger, say, from 1:00 to 4:00 or 5:00 something like that through the central bay.

the forecast overnight lows, 38 in napa, 38 in the santa rosa area, 37. the valley fog is tonight just because the grounds are wet there's high clouds overhead but the humid tis are high, relative humiditys are high so good shot at valley fog. i know everybody is out driving around so be prepared for dense patches of valley fog. and you know where they are especially in the north bay or east bay especially in the south bay. if it's typically there in the wintertime, it'll be there tonight. so today will turn out to be a drier day. as we head into tomorrow afternoon showers show up. it's a nice-looking system. it doesn't appear to be huge. it doesn't appear to have a lot of potential for floogd rains, but a quarter of an inch to half inch for most of us. some areas could see afrnl and if you get into coastal, could see a couple inches. so i said this earlier in the news cast on channel 2 at 5:00 and 6:00, the ground saturate. so it happen to rain could give you some slippage up on skyline boulevard so we'll be watching it for you. here's the forecast for tomorrow morning. your christmas morning is try

and cloudy. the showers move in about 1:00 into san francisco so the model, this is a new model run, sped it up a little bit. showers begin and then that's 5:00 so still moving pretty good but it'll be wet in that period from noon to about 5:00 or 6:00 and then it clears out and then wednesday morning i'm talking about valley fog again and thursday morning we're talking about valley fog again but it's dry after that so fl's our break. as we get into the weekend, looks good, as well. the five-day forecast coming up. lots of 50s for tomorrow. nice day but cloudy and rain developing after lufrmg. the five-day forecast bay area weekend in view, scattered showers and rain tuesday afternoon. it drys out after that. we'll see you tonight on channel 2 at 10:00. dozens of families in the south bay are enjoying a hand-made christmas tradition tonight. the tamale factory in san jose served up its specialty tamales today as fast as the kooks could make them. as usual the line stretched out

the door. the combination of corn meal grill td or vegetables or spices wrapped in a corn husk is a holiday favorite for the mexican-american community and for others, as well. well, thank you for trusting ktvu channel 2 news. we'll see you the next time news breaks. i'm ken prich et. see you tonight at 10:00